Monroe prosecutor, detective accused of wiretapping violation

Closing arguments are scheduled for March 6 in a civil trial in Harrisburg of Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso and District Attorney's Detective Eric Kerchner.

ANDREW SCOTT

Closing arguments are scheduled for March 6 in a civil trial in Harrisburg of Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso and District Attorney's Detective Eric Kerchner.

John Karoly, once a prominent Lehigh County attorney, accuses Mancuso and Kerchner of illegally accessing a recorded phone conversation in violation of the state Wiretapping/Electronic Surveillance Control Act.

Karoly wants Mancuso and Kerchner removed from their positions because they, according to him, illegally accessed a recording of an Oct. 4, 2005, phone call from Monroe County Correctional Facility inmate Jill Goldstein to her boyfriend, builder Dennis Slayton, who at the time was a fugitive authorities were seeking.

Karoly was representing Slayton on drug possession and theft charges. As are all phone calls from inmates to the outside, this call was recorded by the jail.

The trial featured testimony last week by Mancuso, Karoly and District Attorney Dave Christine.

Serving a 6½-year federal prison sentence in Massachusetts and suffering from health issues, Karoly was unable to be present to testify. Instead, a deposition of his testimony was transcribed at the prison and presented at trial.

After hearing closing arguments, Appeals Court Judge Keith Quigley will render a decision on the case prior to March 15.

Court papers and trial testimony reveal the following:

Slayton was out on bail when he walked out of a scheduled Brodheadsville District Court proceeding and left the area. Through Goldstein's subsequent recorded phone call to Slayton, the District Attorney's Office gained information proving Karoly was helping Slayton stay a fugitive, since Karoly at the time of the call was in Slayton's presence.

Slayton later was arrested, convicted and then sentenced.

Mancuso got a copy of the phone call recording from the jail. On Oct. 14, 2005, 10 days after the phone call, the District Attorney's Office had the county court order the county jail to provide prosecutors with recordings of all calls Goldstein made from the jail while Slayton was still a fugitive.

When the court sealed the order from public access, Kerchner understood the seal was on the order itself, but not on the recorded phone conversations' contents. Mancuso understood the order sealing the application for the recorded conversations was directed at the jail, not the District Attorney's Office.

Mancuso on Oct. 31, 2005, used the contents of Goldstein's earlier recorded conversation as grounds to file a motion, a copy of which he mailed to Karoly, requesting Karoly be disqualified as Slayton's attorney and that Slayton's bail be revoked and forfeited.

Mancuso almost a month later filed a brief supporting his motion, mailing Karoly a copy of the brief. Since Mancuso had filed both the motion and supporting brief in public records, news media became aware of and publicized this information.

Karoly two months later filed a state Superior Court complaint alleging Mancuso and Kerchner violated the Wiretapping Act, which forbids public access to recorded phone conversations between inmates and attorneys. After various delays, testimony began last week.

Wiretapping Act exceptions allow law enforcement officers access to recorded conversations in performance of their duties, which the search for a fugitive clearly is, according to testimony from Mancuso, Kerchner and Christine.

Also, even if law enforcement officers were prohibited from accessing recorded phone calls from inmates to their attorneys, Karoly clearly at the time was representing Slayton — not Goldstein, who made the call.

In addition, while Mancuso and Kerchner each said they didn't send news media any information about Mancuso's motion to have Karoly disqualified as Slayton's attorney, that motion was filed in the public record and thus accessible to anyone, according to testimony.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.